


A Long Day

by Annide



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [14]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Bad Days, Bad Things Happen Bingo, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Post-Episode: s01e03 Texas Proud
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:14:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24509749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annide/pseuds/Annide
Summary: Some days, nothing truly bad happens, but without anything good either, small things pile up and drag you down.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, Marjan Marwani & Paul Strickland, Marjan Marwani & TK Strand
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1667122
Comments: 4
Kudos: 80





	A Long Day

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Bad Things Happen Bingo: Don't Let Them See You Cry (requested by brillliantbanshee and tiniestmite on tumblr)

Marjan was on her way out of the door when her phone started buzzing. It was her father. She hadn’t talked to him in a while, so she decided to answer it. She had plenty of time while she walked to the station. She was eager to hear from him. She was happy here in Austin and she loved her firehouse family, but sometimes she did miss everyone back in Miami.

“Hey, how are you?”

“I’m good. How are you getting along in Texas?”

“It’s been great. The crew is amazing, we get along really well. I found a mosque I love. Being here isn’t like I thought it’d be. It’s different, but it’s good.”

“Oh. So that means you’re not coming back then.”

“No, dad, I’m not.”

“I still don’t understand why you had to move so far away from us.”

“It had nothing to do with you, it was an opportunity. And I get to work with people who aren’t all straight white guys who take me for granted or think I can’t do the job as well as they do.”

“Your job, where you pull reckless stunts and risk your life every day.”

“I save people’s lives, I make a difference in the world. It takes skills to do what I do.”

“I still wish my little girl was doing something less dangerous with her life.”

“Well, your little girl has grown up. I am proud of what I do and I wish you were too.”

“I am proud of you, Marjan, but I worry. You know, your auntie showed us that video of you losing your hijab on a call. Do people there even understand?”

“My team does, they were quick to form a wall around me. We’re a family, it’s way more than what I had in Miami.”

“You had your actual family here.”

“It’s not the same thing. I don’t know how to explain, but we have each other’s backs, we have a common goal that connects us, we risk our lives together, for each other. It’s a bond stronger than blood.”

“It was easier for us when you were here and we could see you more often. Please come back, we can be there for you.”

“I have people here. And you could come visit.”

“In Texas? I don’t know. When do you get time off? We would love to have you over on your next vacation.”

“I just started working here, I won’t take a vacation for a while. You should really come, my place is great. Apartments are a lot more affordable here than in Miami.”

“We’ll see. I have to go now. Be safe, Marjan.”

“Goodbye, dad.”

She hung up with a sigh. She knew her parents weren’t big fans of her being a firefighter and she knew they disapproved of her moving to Texas, but she’d still hoped they could be more supportive. She thought they might’ve at least come for a visit and see what it was like here before they passed judgement and tried to convince her to move back to Miami. She tried to get this conversation out of her head as she reached the station. She didn’t want it to affect her mood and she needed a clear head to do her work well. She put her stuff away, changed and walked to the lounge. Paul was sitting alone on the couch and she let herself fall next to him.

“Hey, what did your family and friends say when you told them you were leaving Chicago to live in Texas?”

“They asked if I was sure I wanted to do that, if I’d thought it through. My friends were worried about how it’d be for me here, you know? And they said they’d miss me, of course. Why?”

“I just wondered. My parents were the same. They don’t understand why I would leave Miami when it was just starting to go well for me there. My dad actually still thinks he could convince me to go back there.”

“Would you? Like do you ever regret coming here?”

“No. Sure, it’s a big change, but I love you guys. I’ve never had such a great team that I get along with so well before.”

“Yeah, me neither. I had doubts at first, about living in Texas, but Austin actually isn’t bad. And we have each other. I miss my friends sometimes, but we stay in touch.”

Marjan was happy she had Paul, another person who had to leave everything behind to come here, just like she did. Owen and TK had come from far too, but they’d come together. They’d done it because they needed a change, a new start. She always felt like there was more to that story, but they weren’t talking about it. TK seemed reluctant to get into details about the move, and Owen became protective whenever anything to do with why they left New York came up. It was a completely different situation than her or Paul who were just fine where they were, but still decided to uproot their entire life.

“You know, my parents were always supportive of me, they always encouraged me to be myself and speak my truth.” Marjan said. “They taught me to be the best me that I could be. But they disapproved of me moving and ever since it sounds like they’re having doubts about firefighting too.”

“Mine thought I was just making things harder on myself choosing this career. You can imagine their reaction when I told them about Texas.”

“So, a cake and a parade?”

“You too, huh?”

Their conversation was cut short by a call. They both ran down to join the others in the trucks. Marjan felt a little better. It had been a difficult few days, but talking to Paul about it helped. First at the bar, now here. They were quickly becoming very good friends. She hadn’t lived here long, but she already felt at home in Austin. It was nothing like what she’d expected and Owen had put together a great team, a great family.

* * *

Carlos wasn’t sure what to do anymore. He’d taken Michelle’s advice, he’d gotten over himself and asked TK out. And then TK had spent the entire night ranting about Judd. It didn’t feel like they’d gotten any closer or connected or anything like that. Though it did get a little better once TK threatened him with a dart and he said he was packing a piece. TK thought it was hot and calmed down. But Carlos couldn’t help wanting more than hanging out at a bar and hooking up after. He knew TK wasn’t ready for anything more than that, but he couldn’t get him out of his mind. He thought about him all the time. Especially tonight, as he lay in bed, unable to sleep.

**Are you awake?**

It was late, but TK had a shift, there was as much of a chance that he was awake, out on a call, than sleeping in his bunk.

**yup on shift just got back from a call whats up**

**I couldn’t sleep and was thinking of you**

**aww sweet**

**marjan is teasing me about the way i smiled reading that btw so thanks for that im never gonna hear the end of it**

**If that means you’ll be thinking about me, then I’m not sorry at all**

**you wont give up will you**

**Do you want me to?**

Carlos was filled with nerves as he waited for an answer. He wasn’t used to doing the chasing, what if TK didn’t want to be chased? What if Carlos was going too fast for him? He wondered what he’d meant by nuclear bad when mentioning his recent break up, and why they’d broken up. He hadn’t thought about it a lot, but TK had a life before coming to Austin. He had a whole life in New York that Carlos knew nothing about. He didn’t even know what prompted TK to move down here with his dad. What if that decision was the reason the break up even happened?

As time spread without an answer to his text, Carlos thought about all the things he wanted to know about TK. He wasn’t just hot, he was intriguing and it pulled Carlos in so easily and so fast. He was starting to feel like the lack of an answer was an answer on its own and that maybe he should try going to sleep, but he still held out hope. There were many reasons why that text could’ve gone unanswered that had nothing to do with him. TK was at the firehouse, he could’ve easily just fallen asleep, or been called out on a rescue, or distracted by other people. Carlos needed to calm down and not read so much into it. He made himself a cup of tea, staring at his phone the entire time he drank it. He somehow managed to fall asleep, but when his alarm woke him up so he could get ready for his shift, he was happy to see TK had replied to him. It put a smile on his face before he headed in the shower.

**sorry we got another call**

**dont stop i kinda like being chased for once ;)**

**hopefully you wont get tired of me being a broken mess**

**i have to get some sleep now**

**goodnight hot stuff ;)**

Those texts put him in a good mood before he went to work, which was a good thing because there was a mountain of paperwork waiting on his desk when he got there. It was the start of a very long day and paperwork was only the boring part of it that he’d grow to miss by the end of shift.

His first call was a domestic fight. Not the first time they responded at that address. They calmed them down, talked to them individually and made sure no one was severely hurt. But despite their best efforts, no charges were pressed and they both stayed there. Sometimes people weren’t ready to accept help and there was nothing Carlos could do about it. Then he got caught in an argument with his sisters over text during his break. He spent a while doing traffic stops before lunch, during which he got a call from his mother. She invited him to a barbecue with the family over the weekend and pressed about when he would finally bring someone over for them to meet. She kept telling him it’d been a while since he had a serious boyfriend. All it did was remind him how much of a disappointment his date with TK had been the night before. The texts had been good, but it was like that with TK, one minute he seemed really into it and the next he didn’t.

Early in the afternoon, he finally got to respond to a call to do crowd control during an apartment building fire. He was hoping he’d get to see TK there. It would certainly brighten his day. But the 126 was already busy with rescue when he got there and things seemed tense when they got back out. Owen and Marjan were arguing. TK tried to take her side against his father, but she snapped at him. Carlos took a step towards them and waved when TK looked at him, but he barely acknowledged him before he climbed back into the truck and left.

It wasn’t about him, but Carlos still felt like he was being pushed away. Like TK didn’t want to include him in his life, making sure they stayed at the casual hook up stage and couldn’t become more. Carlos felt the sting in his eyes, the one from tears threatening to come in, filled with disappointment, frustration and the general weight of a bad day. In that moment, he was almost glad TK had gone, he couldn’t let him see those emotions. He was scared that if TK realised just how much he cared, how much he wanted for them to work out, it’d scare him away.

**What was that about back there? Why was your dad angry?**

**marjan pulled something went a little rogue**

**Didn’t she have a history of that?**

**yes but its the first time she does it here**

Carlos waited a few minutes, nervous to put himself out there again. TK had said he liked being chased, but Carlos wasn’t sure he quite liked doing it. It was nerve-wracking and it felt kind of like chasing butterflies with a pierced net.

**You want to come over later?**

**pick me up? ;)**

* * *

It was around midnight when they got their second call of the shift. Marjan had been about to go to bed, only delayed because TK was texting someone and she liked teasing him about his reactions to whatever that other person was sending him. She wished she had someone she could just exchange messages with that late at night, just someone she could always count on to answer no matter the time and place. She was getting closer to Paul and Mateo, and also got along well with TK, so maybe they’d get to that point of friendship someday. She hoped at least.

That call was a rough one. A drunk driver had hit a family van. While Paul and TK worked on getting the kids and father out, and Owen and Mateo worked on extracting the driver, Marjan and Judd went looking for the mother who had been projected out through the windshield. They found her quickly enough, but it was already too late and they couldn’t save her.

They got back to the station. Marjan was a little shaken up, it was the first person she’d lost since coming to Austin. She’d felt her pulse stop, she’d done CPR with no results. She was exhausted and she hadn’t even saved the victim. She tossed and turned in bed for a while, everyone else already fast asleep. Eventually she gave up and went to the kitchen to serve herself a cup of tea. She was surprised to find Michelle there.

“Can’t sleep either, huh?” She said.

Marjan sat across from her.

“No, it’s weird, I don’t usually have trouble falling asleep.”

“I was sorry to hear about that patient you lost.”

“Thank you. Does it ever get easier? Losing someone on the job?”

“No, it doesn’t. Some times are harder than others, sometimes you get so angry because you did everything you could, you gave it all to try and save them, and still you lose. But it’s part of the job. We can’t save everyone.”

“I know, guess I’m just having one of those days. What’s keeping you up?”

“I had a conversation with my sister’s ex and I think I was wrong about him. He didn’t kill her and I’ve been treating him like he did this whole time. I’ve been horrible to him.”

“The important thing is that you know that now. You can’t change what you did, but you can try to make up for it. And for what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re a bad person.”

“We should hang out more. Maybe do something, you, me, Nancy and Grace sometime. A night without the boys.”

“Could be a nice change.”

Marjan finished her tea and they both went back to their bunks to give sleep another try. She’d barely dozed off that the alarm woke everyone up. This shift felt like they couldn’t catch a break. They got call after call throughout the night. The little sleep Marjan managed to get in the morning wasn’t enough, and it was far from the best she’d ever had. Most calls were pretty small and easy, just keeping them from having time to rest, or eat an actual meal, until early in the afternoon when they were called on an apartment building fire.

They cleared most of the building pretty quickly. They were on one of the higher floors when they got word from someone just coming home that there was a child in one of the apartments who hadn’t answered their calls. It happened, sometimes people got scared and froze. The fire was too intense for them to go in through the front door so they decided to breach through the wall from the neighbours’ apartment. But it was taking too long and the building’s structure was becoming compromised. Not to mention all the smoke that the child was exposed to. Marjan couldn’t stand it. She was afraid they’d be too late, that by the time they got to them, the kid would have suffocated. She didn’t want to have to relive the scene of the car accident earlier.

With everyone telling her to come back, Marjan went out to the balcony. Owen yelled at her that it was too dangerous and that they could get through in time, but she didn’t listen. She climbed on the railing and jumped across to the next one. The sliding door was unlocked. Smoke filled the air around her as she opened it. Judd tried to tell her it was enough, that she ventilated the room, buying them some time, and she should wait before going in. She ignored him.

Visibility was almost null inside. Marjan called out as she went along, slowly and carefully. She found the kid lying down in the tub with their ears covered, shaking with fear. She pulled them into her arms and ran to the exit. The air was too hot in there. She made it back onto the balcony just as a flashover took over the room. She had to jump down on the bag thankfully in place on the ground to avoid the flames hurting her and the kid. Their parent ran to them and pulled them into a hug, thanking Marjan profusely. She smiled. She’d done her job and reunited a family, it was all that mattered, and she was ready for whatever Owen had to say about it.

“What were you thinking?” Owen said as soon as he exited the building and caught up to her.

“I was thinking we were running out of time and we couldn’t just let that kid die.”

“You could’ve died, Marjan. Do you understand that? There’s a reason we don’t pull stunts like that. Because our safety is important. If you’d fallen off-“

“But I didn’t fall, Cap,” Marjan interrupted. “I made it out alive with that kid. You want to tell those parents you would’ve preferred I let their child die? Because that’s what would’ve happened if I hadn’t done what I did. That flashover would’ve killed that kid before we got to them.”

“She’s right, dad. We never would’ve gotten there in time. If Marjan hadn’t gone herself, that kid would be dead.” TK said.

“I can fight my own battles, TK, I don’t need your help.” Marjan snapped.

She regretted it almost instantly when she saw his defeated face. All he wanted was to be there for her and show his support. It was true that she didn’t need him to, but there was no reason for her to be this rude and hurt his feelings like that. She watched from the corner of her eye as he walked away.

“What you did up there easily could’ve gone wrong, Marjan. I worry that if you keep doing things like this, it might end badly one day.”

“Well, today it didn’t and a child is alive because of it. I won’t apologise for that. I stand by what I did.”

She didn’t give him a chance to answer, as far as she was concerned the conversation was over. Everyone climbed back into the trucks to go back to the station without another word. The ride back gave her time to calm down. She was in a bad mood and her captain’s disapproval of her actions that led to the rescue of a child, to a saved life, made her angry. All she needed at the moment was a little support and appreciation for her badassery. But she felt nothing like the hero those parents thought she was, right now, she felt like curling up into a ball and crying.

It had been a long day. It felt like things kept piling up and it was getting to be too much. Marjan felt tears starting to form in her eyes, an excess of emotions trying to be released. But she couldn’t cry in front of the others. She wasn’t yet comfortable enough around them to show that kind of vulnerability. Besides, they would likely be concerned and there was absolutely no need for that. She was just so tired and it wasn’t a good day. She would be perfectly fine tomorrow.

While the others spent the rest of shift washing the trucks and inspecting oxygen bottles, Marjan decided to take care of the dishes so she could be alone. She had started the dishwasher and was watching the sink fill with water and soap to wash the pots and pans and everything that she couldn’t fit in the machine when she heard someone clear their throat behind her. She turned around to find TK leaning against the door frame, looking awkward and uncomfortable.

“Would it be okay if I helped? I could wipe and put away everything after you’ve washed them. It’d be a lot faster. Unless you prefer I leave you alone.”

“No, it’s alright, I could use your help.” Marjan said, turning back to the sink to start on the dishes. “I’m sorry I snapped at you earlier.”

“You were right, you are more than capable of handling yourself. I overstepped, I’m sorry.” TK came closer and grabbed a dish cloth.

“It wasn’t about you. It’s been a long day. I’m just tired and everything feels like one thing too many right now.”

“I get that. I’ve been feeling kinda the opposite lately, just numb, but I understand what you mean. It’s like the universe won’t let you catch your breath and deal with something before throwing something else at you.”

“Exactly.”

They shared a smile and resumed washing the dishes in silence. Marjan liked that. She always wanted to isolate herself when she felt down, but it was good to have someone nearby who cared but wasn’t pushing for more than she was willing to give. TK was more insightful than she’d thought at first glance and she had a feeling they could become great friends in time. Once they were done, they sat on the couch to wait for the dishwasher to stop running. Marjan let her head fall on TK’s shoulder and he put his arm around hers. She closed her eyes, comfortable there. She let tears fall quietly down her face, wetting TK’s uniform, but, if he noticed, he didn’t say anything.

* * *

When Carlos had a bad day, he needed to be around people, he needed to see people he cared about, even if they didn’t talk about how he was doing. It simply made him feel better to listen to them ramble or just know they were there, in his life. He hated being alone when he was feeling down. So he was glad TK had accepted his invitation to come over that night. He took the time to change out of his uniform before heading to the firehouse to pick him up. However, he still felt a little choked up from some more tough calls at the end of shift and being dismissed when he went to a superior about concerns he had about the way one of his colleagues acted on one of those.

Once parked, he sat in his car silently for a few minutes. Some days he really wondered why he did what he did, why he’d chosen this job. Some days, he felt like he couldn’t make a difference, like no matter how hard he tried he wasn’t really doing anything to help people. He couldn’t stop himself from crying over his steering wheel, hoping TK would wait for him inside and not see him like this. Carlos needed to calm down and swallow back the tears before he could go in.

When he’d finally managed to dry off his face and put himself back together, Carlos exited his car and entered the firehouse. Other firefighters who were leaving, including Captain Strand, looked at him with a question in their eyes, no doubt asking themselves what he was doing there. Nancy told him Michelle was already gone and got that same confused expression as everyone else when he answered he wasn’t there to see her. He eventually found TK in the lounge, sitting on the couch with his arm around another firefighter that he seemed to be comforting. TK looked up when he saw him and seemed to notice something in Carlos’s expression as he watched him approach. He extended his free arm so Carlos could cuddle in too.

Marjan and Carlos both leaned against TK, each resting their head on one of his shoulders. He had his arms wrapped around them, hugging them close, saying nothing, just being there, and showing them support at the end of what had been a long day. He deposited a soft kiss on top of Carlos’s head, making him hope TK was starting to fall for him too and would soon be ready to open up to him.


End file.
